


Missing the Cold

by Oggser



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Clover Adds Unnecessary Details: The Fic, Fluff, Gen, Oneshot, Post-Canon, Seven Memory Headcanons, True Ending Epilogue, basically its a little different than how canon handles it, but nothing much, first prose fic go easy on me, theyre all friends, very slight spoilers for vlr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-01 01:06:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15763479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oggser/pseuds/Oggser
Summary: Clover thinks it's all okay, after the fact. Not that that says a lot, because comparatively: getting shoved into a blender would be better than what she just went through.That doesn't mean it feels bad, though.--After the True End Epilogue, Clover's POV.





	Missing the Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fic with no real plan or purpose: I just wanted to write something nice and fluffy about the 999 escapees. This is my first prose fanfic, so I hope you enjoy!  
> Apologies if there are any mischaracterizations, I try to be careful about that

After everything, Clover is one of the last awake.

 

 

It was all so tiring, the game. Fearing for your life (for Light's, mostly) had made them all desperate to get out-- the betrayal and confusion of the last few hours definitely hadn't helped in that aspect.  
But they're out, and that's all that matters.  
The first half-hour in the car was energetic, for lack of a better word. Rejoice filled the car as they’d driven down the Nevada desert, free at last, uncaged by boat or bracelet.

 

But that was it. The five that were left (,six if you count Hongou, which Clover  _emphatically_ does not,) had come to one conclusion: They desperately needed a nap.

 

Junpei was the first to doze off, surprisingly, considering how worried he was. He’d done that weird sudoku puzzle all on his own, so his brain must’ve been tired, she guesses.

Still, the image of this skinny, normal-looking college kid slumping into the six-foot-whatever giant bear-man in a beanie is funny, in a weird way. At least Clover thinks so.

 

Seven (what even is his real name?) was next, and then Light, and then Lotus, each of them pressing their faces on the car window. Peacefully.

(As peaceful as you can be smooshed up against a window, at least.)

 

Clover, in all honesty, can’t care less about Hongou. It doesn’t really matter if he’s asleep or not, so she doesn’t consider that.

 

Not even the harsh sun could wake them up. Their eyes were too heavy to be opened for a long while, and the warmth it spread on the glass didn’t do much either. Not after what had to have been the _longest_ , most  _tiring_ nine hours anyone had ever experienced.

 

Except for _her._ She’d been wide awake.

 

One of the first things she’d said was that she wasn’t a thousand-year-old pharaoh lady who doesn’t melt at room temperature (seriously Junpei, what the fuck). After that, Clover learned she needed to get to a building in the desert, and that her car had broken down.

 

After a series of back-and-forth questions that the Field Siblings Who Speak English the Best (feat. Junpei Who For Some Reason Also Speaks English Really Well) had to answer, the not-actually-a-mummy girl (Alice, she’s gathered,) gave them directions in the form of her phone’s GPS. Not before she called someone, though.

 

After convincing _someone_ that she’s not going to call out (it starts with a Jun and ends with a Pei,) it was okay.

 

Everything’s okay, compared to before.

 

-

 

The place Alice gets them to isn’t _bad_ per se, just cold. The air conditioning is turned up way too high, and the walls and floors are that sort of blue-grey steel color that you only see in old sci-fi movies.

The chairs in the waiting room are the chairs that _every_ waiting room has, the ones that are almost comfy if you’re a little numb from the waist down. There are few of those vaguely leather loveseats too, Seven sits down at one of those pretty quick.

 

Clover, though is on one of the nearly-comfy seats. She’s next to Lotus, who’s wearing Junpei’s hoodie. (why does he wear so many layers?). She probably would have frozen to death in the hyper-conditioned air without it.

Junpei is sitting in a chair on a different wall near theirs, meanwhile Seven and Light are on a leather loveseat, both of them looking pretty comfy, Clover thinks. (She wonders if Seven is just a human pillow, and that’s why everyone likes sitting next to him. It wouldn’t surprise her.)

 

“Jesus Christ,” Lotus mutters.

Clover, being the reigning Queen of caring about people, asks “What’s up?”

Lotus, who doesn’t particularly look like she has a response, answers with, “Oh, nothing…” She rubs her shoulders to generate some friction.

"... I just didn’t think I could go from pretty warm to _uncomfortably_ cold in... what, ten minutes?” A dry laugh escapes her mouth, and the humor spreads to Clover. They’re both smiling, overtired, relieved.

“I mean,” Clover starts, rubbing an eye, “I guess it’s kind of symbolic, or… whatever.”

That’s what Lotus raises a brow at. “What do you mean?

“I dunno. I think I mean--”

“You…   _think_ you mean?” She oh-so-rudely interrupts with another tired chuckle. Clover would be more annoyed if this had happened nine hours ago.

“Shut up, I’m sleepy,” Clover waves it off, “Anyways- I think it’s like…” Her voice is tired, with the inflection someone has when they’ve just been woken up by a particularly annoying alarm.

“... We were just living our lives, and then we got kidnapped, right? So, we basically went from a pretty chilly place, to like… two-hundred degrees? None of us realize how much we’d miss the cold until we’re melting our faces off, I guess.”

Lotus looks tired, yet amused, “So you’re comparing a waiting room with the air conditioning turned up too high, to…” Her hands gesture vaguely as she searches for words. “... Kidnapping nine people and forcing them to play a death game.”

Clover squints. “... Well when you put it like _that,_ it sounds pretty dumb.”

 

They laugh again after that.

 

After a brief, comfortable silence, Clover asks something she’s surprised no one has.

 

“What’s your name?”

“What?”

“Your name. Like, the one you were born with.” Clover’s head rests on her hands, which rest on her arms, which rest on her thighs. “We’re not in the game anymore, so no one’s gonna spy on us.”

“Oh.” An inflection of realization spreads across her voice. “I… don’t know why we haven’t done that yet.”

“Mm, I kinda forgot Lotus isn’t your actual name, to be honest.”

“I don’t know if I can imagine you as anything other than Clover either.” Says Lotus, who doesn’t realize how lucky she is.

“Good news-- you don’t.”

“... Why?”

“Clover isn’t _just_ my code name,” She says, “It’s my real name too. Clover Field.” She hears Lotus snicker.

“... You used your real name as a codename?” The woman in front of her has an expression like someone put amusement and defeat on a palette and mashed them together.

She pouts. “Hey, _I_ thought it was clever.”

Another voice chimes in, “You thought _Clover_ was _clever?”_ It sounds like the most normal voice she can imagine, which is how she knows it’s Junpei.

“Oh shut _up,”_ Clover groans, “You used your real name too!”

“You say that like I wanted to.” Then he laughs, but it sounds like a ‘heh’ on low battery.

“Still,” Lotus muses, “What kind of surname is Field? Are you American?” She feels Light would have answered, but from her Sibling Senses (being around him for eighteen years, mainly, but the morphic fieldset didn’t hurt), she can tell he’s asleep. His eyes are always closed, so no one else can tell.

“Yours can’t any better! Just because my Dad’s American doesn’t mean his last name isn’t good!”

“You don’t know her last name…?” When Clover finally takes a look at him, she thinks about how utterly strange he looks without a hoodie on. Other than that, though, she pretends he’s not there.

“Is Snake’s name _actually_ Snake too, or is it just you?” Lotus, however, looks out-of-character wearing, like, actual clothes.

“What kind of parent would name their kid ‘Snake?’”

“Your name is Clover.” Seven speaks up, smirking as he joins the conversation. “We can kinda tell what your parents are like.”

She groans, and continues. “You’re not clever, you friggin’ whale-- and his name is _Light_ , not _Snake!_ ”

 

Pause.

 

“... That is,” Junpei’s face would be more fitting if he was watching a horror movie, “The _worst_ name for a blind kid I’ve ever heard…?”

“Hoooly shit--” Seven puts a hand on Light’s shoulder, “I am… so sorry, kid.”

“He wasn’t _born_ blind, and he’s _also_ not awake right now.” Clover smirks and leans back into the chair and crosses her arms, huffing. She ignores Seven’s confusion at how Light’s back is so straight while he’s unconscious (, it’s a family secret). “He was in a car crash before I was born-- and _you’re_ not answering the question!” She blurts out, jabbing her finger at Lotus.

“What’s your name?”

Lotus considers something for a moment, looks at Clover, and says. “Kashiwabara. Hazuki Kashiwabara.” Her last name, she thinks, is actually better than ‘Field.’ Clover grumbles.

 

Seven opens his mouth, paled with a cold sweat.

“... Oh.” Is what he says after the buildup. Maybe he says something after that, but Clover isn’t really listening.

 

-

 

The interrogation goes about as well as an interrogation can go. Seven’s English is okay, (apparently he’s half American, like her and Light,) but Lotus (Hazuki?) doesn’t know a word of it. Junpei translates between the two of them, but Clover doesn’t know why he can. Unless he’s _also_ half American, she has no clue.

 

They ask them questions individually, (barring Hazuki, obviously,) It’s probably in order to make sure they don’t lie, but no one really has a reason to.

 

Clover still doesn’t know what a myrmidon is.

 

-

 

“... So, what now?”

 

By the time all of the interrogations and whatnot are done, it’s afternoon, some-time-around one PM. The people there have offered them a place to stay while they recover (a hotel), and it seems… comfy.

(Alice tells her Hongou’s probably gonna spend his life in prison, which makes Clover a happy little escapee.)

 

Junpei, however, is anxious.

“What do you mean by that, Junpei?” Light asks, finally awake.

“I just mean… what do we do now? What comes after this?”

Clover doesn’t know.

“I don’t know.” Neither does Hazuki, apparently.

“Don’t give me that,” He starts, “I…” She can practically hear cogs in his head turning. “I know we’re… probably gonna go back to our normal lives after this, but--”

“Then there’s your answer.” Seven cuts him off. “We just… go back, I guess.”

“Hm,” Light hums, “I believe he’s referring to _us,_ specifically. Is that right?”

“Uh… yeah-- yeah that’s… that’s what I mean… do we just… pretend this never happened or… what?”

 

Clover thinks the answer to that is obvious.

“We keep in touch. Duh.” With a roll of her eyes, she continues. “This isn’t exactly the kinda shit you go through and forget about.”

 

“... How would we do that?” Light’s brows are furrowed, so he’s concerned, she thinks. “We obviously don’t have phones in our pockets, so I’m not sure how we’d talk to each other over long distances once we get home.” He smiles. “And please, don’t say something silly like the post office.”

“Uh…” Seven grunts. “We could buy some if any of you guys have money.”

Junpei’s eyes are tired, his eyebrows are less furrowed, more just lowered. “I’m in _college,_ Seven.”

“... Point taken then.”

“I’ve got one at home,” Clover says, frankly, “Light does too.”

“Oh-- yes, she is correct.” Light confirms, in his Lightly way. "We should give each other contact info right now, and then use it once we get home."

 

After that, they all exchange information, resulting in one conclusion: Everyone probably has a phone at home, and the Field siblings _always_ remember their phone number. (Always.) Hazuki knows hers, but it takes her a little while, and Junpei just trusts that he’ll remember one of the other one’s.

Guess who doesn’t remember his number, or if he even has a phone.  
  
“... Pretty sure I have one.” Seven mumbles.

“... Hey, what do you mean _pretty sure_ _?”_ Lotus is, for lack of a better word, kind of pissed.

“I’m not sure if I’ve got a phone, but I… I think I do?”

“I thought your memories came back already!” Clover’s also feeling a little annoyed.

“They did!” Seven defends himself, “... Just not, like… all of ‘em… I can probably remember a buncha stuff if I give it a couple days, but it’s just kinda…  foggy, right now.”

“So they did _not_ come back, you mean?” For all she’s known Light, he’s rarely ever turned down an opportunity to prove someone wrong.

“I guess? They’re there… just tough to get, y’know?”

“Just-- _please_ tell me you remember your name? _Please?”_ Junpei’s voice is coated with exhaustion.

Seven laughs at that, _loudly,_ even. It isn’t even funny. “Woops.”

 

Junpei groans.

 

-

 

They’re all on a plane now, after a night in the hotel. Clover couldn’t sleep, and she feels like most of the others didn’t do too much better than her.

 

“... We _are_ gonna keep in touch, right?” Clover asks at one point. She’s talking to Light, but he doesn’t answer. Not before someone else does.

“Well yeah, duh.” Seven is in the row behind her. She can see his big mug if she just looks behind her, seeing as how he’s so tall. In Clover’s opinion, he’s pretty ugly, but the fun uncle kind of ugly where it’s still a comforting face to see.

“Like you said, this isn’t exactly something you forget about.

She grins, trying to keep it subtle. “That’s my line, dumbass.”

They laugh, and Light does too. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Hazuki smiling too, apparently being interrupted while reading a book with a cheesy cover. Seeing her in something other than a dancing outfit reminds Clover of her mother. Junpei seems at peace. He has a curved pillow around his shoulders, probably about to get some rest, even though he’s scared. That’s kind of his thing.

 

Clover looks around.

 

She thinks she’ll be alright.

-

 

Clover is the first one to fall asleep.


End file.
